The prestigious annual Rose D'Or Awards (now in their 55th year) honour the very best of international radio, TV and online entertainment programmes, and the awards ceremony took place last night (Tuesday, September 13th 2016). Over 400 programmes from more than 130 broadcasters and production companies in 33 different countries were submitted for this year’s Rose d’Or awards. For the first time, a new competition category, 'Radio Event Of The Year' was created. We entered European Dawn Chorus in this category, and we're absolutely delighted to let you know that ... drumroll... WE WON!!! We're absolutely thrilled to pieces, and a massive thanks to all our EBU and BirdLife International partners, we couldn't have done it without you! Click here to read more about the 2016 Rose D'Or awards (in which legendary funnyman John Cleese picked up the Lifetime Achievement award), and click here to relive - and re-listen to - all the beautiful Dawn Chorus birdsong from right across Europe.

***STOP PRESS*** Dawn Chorus Picks Up Another Award!

We're thrilled to let you know that on Friday, October 7th, the Dawn Chorus won the Innovation Award at the PPI Radio Awards in Kilkenny!

On Mooney today...

Broadcaster Paddy McKenna discusses our ongoing love affair with the underdog, Olan McGowan is looking for the Mooney Word Of The Year for 2013, Katriona McFadden finds Ireland's tallest tree, and Brenda Donohue laments the demise of the traditional lullaby, and its replacement by the likes of Rihanna and Beyonce...

Mooney's Honeymooners, with the Sunday World!

Mooney has teamed up with the Sunday World (www.sundayworld.com) to give one very special couple a second honeymoon! We are looking for Ireland's favourite couple - and that couple could win a dream trip to San Francisco, worth a whopping €10,000!!!

It’s the second honeymoon of a lifetime – so who better to send on it than Ireland’s favourite couple! That’s why today we are launching the search for the nation’s most deserving bride and groom as voted by the public.

Your favourite Sunday paper, the Sunday World, is teaming up with the country’s favourite radio presenter, Derek Mooney, to find 'Mooney's Honeymooners'.

One deserving couple will win the €10,000 second honeymoon of a lifetime to the West Coast of America, courtesy of our partners in Sutter Home and BudgetAir.ie.

Whether you’re a newlywed, or celebrating 50 or more years together, you can enter. And you can nominate yourself or a deserving couple you know.

All you need to do is send us a wedding picture of the couple and a brief description why they should be Mooney’s €10,000 Honeymooners. A public vote on the Sunday World website will decide the nation's top 10 and then a panel of Sunday World and Mooney judges will pick a winner. And voting is free!

To enter simply go to the Sunday World website - www.sundayworld.com - to submit a picture and your details. And you could be winging your way to San Francisco on business-class flights to a five-star hotel with €1,000 spending money!

HOW IT ALL WORKS

We’ve made it easy to enter, vote and share your favourites on Facebook or Twitter. Log on to www.sundayworld.com/competitions to submit your wedding picture and enter your details.

Once your picture is verified and goes live, then any member of the public can then vote for the couple to be our winner.

You can enter your picture anytime before Wednesday, November 20th, but as voting starts as soon as your picture is approved, the earlier you enter, the sooner your picture can start collecting public votes.

Voting for round one started on Sunday, November 10th, and continues until noon on Friday, November 22nd. Voting is free. Votes are limited to one per minute per person to avoid automatic voting.

The top 10 pictures as selected by the public vote will progress to round two. The top five will then be selected by a panel of judges and be interviewed on Mooney on RTÉ Radio 1. The top five will also be published in the Sunday World on December 1st, and the winner will be announced in the paper on December 22nd.

THE PRIZE:

DAY ONE: Two business-class flights from Dublin to San Francisco. Accommodation in five-star hotel in San Francisco.DAY TWO: Free time in San Francisco. Accommodation in five-star hotel in San Francisco.DAY THREE: Hop-on, hop-off bus tour of San Francisco. Accommodation in five-star hotel in San Francisco.DAY FOUR: Sutter Home VIP winery tour and tasting, Napa Valley. Accommodation in exclusive winery accommodation.DAY FIVE: Explore Napa Valley area. Dinner at Sutter Home winery. Accommodation in exclusive winery accommodation.DAY SIX: Bike rental in San Francisco. Accommodation in five-star hotel in San Francisco.DAY SEVEN: Two business-class flights from San Francisco to DublinPlus €1,000 spending money

Runners-up will win a case of Sutter Home White Zinfandel

T&Cs for the Sunday World competition:- The prize is strictly non-transferable, non-exchangeable and includes the following: Return flights for two from Dublin to San Francisco, Club World class. Four nights in a five-star hotel in San Francisco (details tbc) and two nights in the Sutter Home Winery, Napa Valley. A VIP tour of the Sutter Home winery with tasting and dinner is also included.- Also included is Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour for two people- Bike Rental for one day for two people- Bookings must be made a minimum of two months before the departure date.- All flights are subject to availability from BudgetAir.ie.Blackout periods apply including all bank holidays.- Travel Period: Feb 17 - June 24, 2014 and Aug 23 - Oct 31, 2014- The winner must hold a valid passport and be over 18 years of age.

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Mooney Tunes 9

The ninth concert in our hugely popular series of Mooney Tunes will be a variety Christmas concert with various singers and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Listeners requests will be read out and their songs will be played. There will be love songs, songs you will sing along to, beautiful classical music and lots of Christmassy tunes to get you in the festive mood a week before Christmas!

The Mooney Tunes concerts have been extremely successful, and tickets often sell-out within hours of going on sale.

The benefit of buying the tickets in person at the theatre box office is that there is no service charge to pay. Tickets are priced from €14.50 and go up to €20, €28, €34 and €39.50, depending on where you are sitting.

Tickets are also on sale online from Ticketmaster.ie, Ticketmaster outlets and from the Ticketmaster phonelines:

Tickets bought from Ticketmaster.ie online or on the phone are subject to a 12.5% service charge so, for example, that would make the €14.50 ticket, the cheapest ticket, €16.60. If you buy your tickets in person from a Ticketmaster outlet there will be a €2.50 flat fee service charge, and there is no service charge whatsoever if you buy them in person at the box office here at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre.

But whichever way you choose to get your tickets for Mooney Tunes 9, we suggest that you do it as soon as possible after 3pm, when they go on sale! It's the perfect pre-Christmas concert - but tickets will go early, so get yours as soon as you can to avoid disappointment! For more information about the concert, visit www.bordgaisenergytheatre.ie/index.php/artist/mooney-tunes.

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The End Of Traditional Lullabies?

Did you know that parents are ditching traditional lullabies to sing their children to sleep, in favour of chart-topping pop songs?

A recent survey which polled over 2,000 parents revealed that only 15% sang traditional nursery rhymes to their children at bedtime.

Another one in five admitted it's because they know more of the words to modern songs, while more than one in twenty claimed they don't know any traditional children's lullabies at all.

So when you are putting your little darling to bed at night, will Twinkle Twinkle Little Star be replaced by Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are?, the song that topped the poll of modern bedtime favourites?

Mooney reporter Brenda Donohue visited the Gymboree play and music centre in Celbridge, Co Kildare, to get the opinions of staff and parents there...

So what was your bedtime lullaby? What songs do you sing to your little ones? Are the traditional lullabies on the way out? Let us know - text 51551, e-mail mooney@rte.ie or tweet @MooneyShow!

TOP MODERN POP AND ROCK SONGS FOR TOTS TO SING TO

1. Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars2. Someone Like You - Adele3. Umbrella - Rihanna4. Angels - Robbie Williams5. Diamonds - Rihanna6. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns n Roses7. Wonderwall - Oasis8. I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift9. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera10. It's All About You - McFly11. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston12. Beneath Your Beautiful - Labyrinth feat Emeli Sande13. Everything I Do, I Do It For You - Bryan Adams14. Next To Me - Emeli Sandé15. With Or Without You - U216. Skyfall - Adele17. Somebody I Used To Know - Gotye18. Back For Good - Take That19. Patience - Take That20. Read All About It - Professor Green feat Emilie Sandé

Jackie Sings Moon River!

Mooney Word Of The Year

This time every year, the people at Oxford English Dictionary review the development of the English language, taking a look at the new words that come into popular use, and deciding which ones might gain entry into the dictionary.

Words have to appear reasonably consistently in publications, or in media, or in the general consciousness, to gain entry.

But as part of this exercise, Oxford English dictionary ALSO pick a "word of the year". Something that has really grabbed hold of the public's imagination and taken up residence in the general vocabulary.

Producer Olan McGowan joins Derek in studio to reveal the OED's top word, and to launch the Mooney Word Of The Year competition! We are looking for YOUR choice of Word Of The Year for 2013 - e-mail your suggestions to mooney@rte.ie, and we'll reveal the winner on Monday, December 23rd!

The Tallest Tree In Ireland

The Guinness Book of Records tells us who is the fastest, the tallest and the smallest person in the world. It holds all sorts of wild and wacky records too.

In nature, keeping records is essential so we know if populations are increasing or decreasing, if species are spreading and so on. And a beautiful photographic 'book of record' arrived in our offices this week.

We think it is The Guinness Book of Records for Irish Trees!

It’s entitled Heritage Trees Of Ireland, it's written by Aubrey Fennell and it lists some of the 'Champion Trees' of Ireland – and this morning, Mooney reporter Katriona McFadden went to meet Aubrey and one of Ireland’s Champion Trees, in Powerscourt...

Aubrey Fennell, left, with Michael Byrne, Head Gardener at Powerscourt

Visit Ireland’s Tallest Tree along Powerscourt River Walk! Enjoy a guided walk along the tranquil and secluded river walk at Powerscourt, guided by the Powerscourt Head Gardener Michael Byrne. Standing at over 61.5 metres, this tree towers above well-known landmarks including Dublin’s Liberty Hall (59.5 metres) and Niagara Falls (51m). On the walk you can enjoy learning about the abundance of trees along the River Walk including over 50 Monkey Puzzles grouped together, Giant Redwoods, Norway Spruce, Fir Trees and the Multi-Stemmed Cyprus among many others. Note: This walk is over 5km long (including the return journey) and will be about an hour long so please wear good walking shoes.

Cost for the eventFree for annual members of PowerscourtChild aged 5 and under: Free of chargeChild: €2 (the event is geared towards adults but children are welcome)Adult: €5

The Underdogs

In The Underdogs, RTÉ 2fm broadcaster Paddy McKenna searches for new and unsung sporting heroes. They are the Irish wheelchair rugby team, who recently qualified for the European Championships in Antwerp, the Irish homeless soccer team, who participated in the World Cup this summer in Poznan, and a gay soccer team. Paddy joins Derek in studio to chat about the people he met whilst making the programme.

Hedgerows: It is an offence to 'cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy hedgerows on uncultivated land during the nesting season from 1 March to 31 August, subject to certain exceptions'. For more information, click here.

UPDATE: February 29th 2016 - Press Release From BirdWatch Ireland:

Putting the record straight: Dates for burning and hedge-cutting have NOT changed

BirdWatch Ireland, Ireland’s largest conservation charity, is very concerned about misinformation that is currently circulating regarding the dates within which the burning of vegetation and cutting of hedges is permitted. It would like to remind landowners that all burning and cutting must cease on 29th February this year and that burning and cutting remains prohibited from 1st March to 31st August.

Despite attempts by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys T.D., to change the laws regulating these dates by introducing the Heritage Bill 2016 earlier this year, it is important to note that the proposed date changes were ultimately NOT made. This is because the bill failed to pass through both houses of the Oireachtas before the recent dissolution of the Dáil in advance of the general election.

The laws in place governing the dates for hedge-cutting and upland burning therefore remain unchanged. The period within which cutting and burning is prohibited are set down in Section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976 (as amended in 2000), which states that:

(a) It shall be an offence for a person to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy, during the period beginning on the 1st day of March and ending on the 31st day of August in any year, any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated.
(b) It shall be an offence for a person to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy any vegetation growing in any hedge or ditch during the period mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection (above).

The existing law provides exemptions for road safety and other circumstances and should be read carefully to ensure compliance.

Section 40 of the Wildlife Act exists to protect nesting birds. Many of our upland bird species are in decline and are in danger of extinction in Ireland; amongst them is the Curlew, which has declined by 80%. Many birds which nest in hedgerows into August are also in serious decline, including the endangered Yellowhammer. The changes to the cutting and burning dates which had been proposed in the now-defunct Heritage Bill 2016 would have caused serious impacts to these birds. A petition launched by BirdWatch Ireland in conjunction with several other national conservation organisations to stop these changes attracted more than 16,200 signatures and rising.

BirdWatch Ireland would also like to advise members of the public that if they see hedges being cut or fires in the uplands on or after 1st March, such activity could be illegal. In such cases, we would encourage people to contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service (www.npws.ie) to report such activity.

BirdWatch Ireland warmly welcomes the demise of the Heritage Bill 2016 and sincerely hopes that any future administration will consider the importance of Ireland’s natural heritage and will not attempt to reintroduce such a flawed and damaging piece of legislation.

RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Broadcaster.RTÉ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. Images courtesy of Inpho.ie and Getty Images.